The junior podium 1st and 2nd – Jared Hannon and Tyler Brown
it was a matter of twisting the throttle hard and that generally keeps you going straight . Of course , if it doesn ’ t , then you ’ re in a lot of trouble ,” the 16-year-old joked . “ I was just praying I had enough fuel to finish the last lap . It was my first cross-country race on a four-stroke and it was awesome . And an electric start makes all the difference too . “ I didn ’ t expect to win . I didn ’ t even know I was going to be doing this race until last week . Dad told me the race was on and I decided to give it a crack .” And while 2021 national junior 250cc motocross champion Brown would have loved to win the race against his friend at Marton , he said that accepting runner-up spot to Kawasaki team-mate Hannon was still immensely satisfying . “ This is the only event anyway that I am still eligible to race as a junior , so I could not really hope to win that title this year . I turn 17 shortly and will switch to the senior ranks . “ Today was really just practice for me ,” said Brown , a pupil at Onewhero Area School . The next two rounds of the cross-country
nationals follow closely together , with round two set for farmland near Pahiatua on Saturday , April 16 , and round three near Dannevirke just two days later , on Easter Monday , April 18 . The venue for the fourth and final round on May 14 is yet to be confirmed . Points from only the best three results from the four rounds will be counted towards the championship titles , with riders to discard their worst result , ensuring the contest will go down to the wire .
2022 NZ Cross-Country Champs
Round One Sunday , February 27 – Bush Riders MCC , Marton
Round Two Saturday , April 16 – Bush Riders MCC , Pahiatua
Round Three Monday , April 18 – Central Hawke ’ s Bay MCC , Dannevirke
Round Four Saturday , May 14 – Host club and venue TBC
30 KIWI RIDER